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5 bold predictions for Auburn football's 2022 season — including Bryan Harsin's future

bennett durando, montgomery advertiser
·3 min read
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AUBURN — Time is dwindling to make bold, sweeping predictions about the college football season ahead.

Auburn begins its second year of the Bryan Harsin era Sept. 3 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN+) against Mercer. Here are our five bold predictions for the Tigers.

Bryan Harsin will not be fired

The elephant in the room is whether the coach's job remains in jeopardy after a university investigation. Harsin has expunged those whose vision didn't align with his, and the players who stayed through the tumult the have rallied around him.

The result is a more unified, and I think even good – but not great – team. Harsin is under the microscope more than most second-year coaches, so progress is required after the program's first losing season since 2012.

Harsin will go 7-5 and survive the hot seat.

Auburn QB1 will change at least once

Preseason practice has been defined by the quarterback race among T.J. Finley, Zach Calzada and Robby Ashford. All three have unique attributes: Finley's intelligence and leadership, Ashford's legs, Calzada's experience and deep ball accuracy rate.

This prediction isn't about who starts opening night. This is about what happens next.

With a schedule as difficult as Auburn's and the ongoing nature of these competitions, Harsin will change his starting quarterback at least once during the season.

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A surprising, signature win...

What weird magic will Jordan-Hare Stadium conjure up this year? Last fall it was a spiraling home team almost upending Alabama's national championship candidacy.

This season, Auburn will beat at least one of the upper echelon SEC West teams that visits: Arkansas or Texas A&M. (For the sake of this "bold" exercise, let's say Texas A&M.)

... and a sour loss

The Tigers also will lose at least one SEC game that fans generally expect them to win: at Mississippi State or hosting Missouri.

The phrase "air raid offense" should come with a trigger warning in Auburn after last year: Will Rogers completed 34 of his last 37 passes for six touchdowns as Mississippi State erased a 28-3 deficit.

And that was against an Auburn secondary that boasted an All-American. The back end of the defense is a bigger question mark now. The rematch is in the cowbell court. The "easiest" of Auburn's road games isn't so easy.

Auburn will have an All-American ... not named Tank Bigsby

The running back would be the obvious choice. He's coming off a season with 1,099 rushing yards, and Auburn plans to center its offense on him even more. He'll have a great year, but the All-American on the Tigers' roster will be more of a surprise: defensive lineman Colby Wooden.

If you follow Pro Football Focus' underlying metrics, Wooden is already one of the quietest stars in college football. His second NFL Draft-eligible season will bring him out of the shadows.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bold predictions for Auburn football — including Bryan Harsin's future